This Japanese restaurant serves up noodles in stunning ice block bowls

Looking for new serving suggestions that’ll wow your guests?

Check out these giant ice cubes that double up as serving bowls for noodles at the Tempura Matsu restaurant in Kyoto.

Tempura Matsu, a restaurant in Kyoto, Japan, serves their noodles in huge blocks of ice, and Japanese diners are going crazy over it.

Located by the river in the famous Arashiyama region of Kyoto is Tempura Matsu, a beautiful, traditional building where some of the finest dishes in Japan are served. One of the most stunning items on the menu are the noodle dishes, which vary from season to season, and diners are so impressed with their meals they’ve been sharing photos of their amazing dishes online.

The unusual chilled summer dish is called “Inaniwa udon” and made from Japanese mugwort in a dashi broth, served with wasabi topped off with a raw quail egg yolk.

Served inside a scooped out pocket in a hefty block of clear ice not only does the choice serving receptacle look stunning, giving an unusual 360 degree view of the noodle dish inside, but there’s also a functional purpose. As the ice block melts extra liquid leaks into the noodles and broth adding another icy dimension to be enjoyed by the diner.

If you’re looking for more unusual serving suggestions you can always try making edible flower ice bowls for summer soups and ice-cream.

Would you find your noodles as equally enticing served in one of these? Have a look at more of the restaurant’s unusual serving dishes on their Instagram site.

To make the ice bowl, the chefs take a huge block of ice and scoop out a portion to make a small bowl. Then they pour hot broth into the bowl, which slowly melts the ice, submerging the noodle soup deeper into the ice block.

The dish is beautifully presented, and people can’t stop posting Instagram photos of it.

According to buffalotrip.com, the most popular noodles are inaniwa udon, made from mugwort and served with wasabi and a raw egg yolk.

Tempura Matsu believes in cooking seasonally.

In the spring, they serve sakura cherry blossom noodles in the block of ice.

The presentation is gorgeous.

The inaniwa udon, made from mugwort and served with wasabi and a raw egg yolk, are a hit with diners, both for their delicious flavour and their visually stunning bowls.

A whole table of ice cubes makes for a cooling sight.

Thin somen noodles are perfect as an icy cold summer dish.

Further information

Tempura Matsu Restaurant

• Address: 21-26 Umezu Onawaba-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
• Phone: +81 75-881-9190
• Opening Hours: 11:30-14:00 (L.O.), 17:00-20:30 (L.O.); Close early when ingredients are sold out.
• Istagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/tempuramatsu/
• Recommended: A 5-min. walk from Matsuno-o Taisha Shrine; Lunch course: 5,250-7,350 yen, Dinner course: 10,500 yen or 13,650 yen.

Read reviews more on Tempura Matsu at here.